Cupcake Birthday #2

And now for Carrie's birthday!

Little Carrie has been into horses lately, and when she saw these cupcakes...well...try them I must! You DID know they were horses, didn't you? :) Grace was my cupcaker-in-training on this one. Although, I think that title could belong to both of us...I'm not very good at this yet!

Okay, so on to the makings of! Bet you didn't know horse necks were made of creme wafers! Assorted creme wafers, no less! Yum. Yum.

And this is where the horses got a bit more...complicated. A bad thing when you've just started! You see, the horse heads were supposed to be white circus peanuts. Walmart apparently doesn't keep white horseheads stocked...so how to turn these orange 'uns into white 'uns. That shall be seen in a moment.

Not a fan of circus peanuts, by the way. *gag!!* Sorry Mom.

Did I mention I was instructed to use Creamy (non)Home-style frosting again? *sigh*. But it was necessary, because it (along with some of those vanilla and chocolate melty wafers) were the glue that held the horses together. Mostly.

This is a picture I find slightly disturbing, but it's necessary so you can see the structure of the horse heads. And so you can see my problem. We dipped the horse heads. Into melted white chocolate. Would have been a good idea, except it added weight. And weight is bad. Remember the light and fluffy cupcakes from the previous post? Not exactly stable. *cough*

ANYway...2 wafers glued together, heads trimmed and glued into wafers, blobs of melted white chocolate applied, and sprinkles...sprinkled. Can you tell it's a horse yet?

This might look like a whispered conference about the miseries of being hairless, but really, it's a group of horsey friends upholding each other during the rough time we put them through. Literally, upholding each other. We lost one or two who had suffered from instability since their cupcakehood, but most survived. Oh, and this is where I decided horse cupcakes were HORRIBLE.

But really, when all was said and done...and when the eyes, ears, mane, tail and all were added...they weren't so bad. And kinda cute. Carrie loved 'em. :)

And as always, if the birthday girl is happy...we're all happy!

The cupcakers. The matching cupcakers!

She really isn't taller, I'm just slouching...or maybe she's on her tiptoes...or maybe, she's just, taller. Bummer.

Cupcake Birthday #1

We just got through the largest portion of what we call "birthday season".

Kind of similar to the spring season, in that you can "smell it in the air"...in all its sugary, chocolatey wonder.

Or it could be compared to winter. Lots of ice-ing.

Or really, you might consider it autumnal...all the smoke that came from Daddy's candles this year smelled like a good October bonfire.

Yep, any number of seasonal comparisons could be found for our birthday season. Except... our birthday season comes in summer...6 of our birthdays, in fact, fall within the months of June, July, and August. I may post a picture of Grace's cake at a future date. Sam's was an Oreo cake (not too fancy), and Dad had pies. Delicious, but not worthy of a blog post, I'm afraid. So for now, I will chronicle the Cupcake Girls' birthday desserts.

First Kate's.

This is Hootles clan.

First a disclaimer. I would never have chosen to use the horrible store-bought frosting, except that the directions said I had to. *sigh* But admitedly...it did cut down on prep time!

So first of all, the cupcakes! Of various sizes, for big and little hooters of all ages and walks of life. Baked to perfection, smelling delectable.

Thickly coated (of course!) with chocolate.

And what's a cupcake-making session good for if you don't, at least once, drop your chocolate-besmeared knife on the floor?!? Don't worry. I washed it. Who wants to be stepping on chocolate?

And then, once all your fingers, knuckles, and all the cupcake papers are fairly well blotched with chocolate, it's time for some owl faces!

First some Oreos. Painstakingly opened.(Hey, but if a few break...all the better, right?!?)

And a handful of these little guys. Who likes the bananas best? I do! I do! And I was rather disappointed to have to use them all on the cupcakes. Sacrifices.

Ta da!!

They look like I do when I walk out of the big cooler at work on a warm day.

Ah, but we won't leave them that way! These, my friends, may look like little chocolate candies. But in fact, they are little pieces of personality...

This is Ebenezer and his brother Scrooge.

This one's name is Percival. I think he just got a glimpse of the cat.

So many delightful things to be done with eyeballs.
And these owls have EYEBALLS.

And after working with all that chocolate, what's better than a big mug of tea?


Except, perhaps a happy little blue-eyed owlette.


Who's great idea was this? There are only 10 people in our household, for goodness sake! We can't eat that many cupcakes in 3 days! For yes indeed, Carrie's birthday is 3 days after Kate's...and I planned to make another set of cupcake critters. That's what I get for letting them BOTH look at my cupcake book. :)

A Modest Heart

This is a wonderful talk given earlier this year by Janelle Bradshaw, daughter of CJ and Carolyn Mahaney (Sovereign Grace Ministries).

A Modest Heart

It was both encouraging and convicting. Good reminder that what you wear (and how you wear it!) is a reflection of your heart, and of your relationship with Christ! Perhaps another post about this later, but this talk is only about 30 minutes long, and very worth listening to!

Need some work...

A good blogger:

1. doesn't leave her blog to gather dust

2. is a constant fountain of bloggy ideas

3. loves how long it takes to get pictures to download

4. isn't in the middle of a really good book that consumes her free evenings :)

I'm thinking if it weren't for that last one, I might just be a better blogger! But Middlemarch has me captivated at the moment. Excellent read!

And the last time I downloaded pictures for my blog post, something didn't work, and the whole post took at least 1-1/2 hours.

Not to mention I haven't had that many blogging ideas these days, nor the time to post things I think of until too long after the fact to want to blog about it.

And uh, it's kinda been a while since I've posted...so I'm thinking I don't rate too high on the "good blogger" scale.

Solution?

Sorry, until I finish Middlemarch, blog posts might just be scarce. :)

Promises of Guidance

An exerpt from Elisabeth Elliot's book, God's Guidance:

The Bible contains thousands of promises, a great number of which concern guidance. Nearly every one of the sixy-six books has some word about how God led someone or how he promises to lead those who want to be led, from the Lord God's taking the man Adam and putting him in the garden he had made for him, telling him what to do and what not to do, to the Lamb's leading those who have washed their robes: "And he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Rev. 7:17)

There are promises of special care for special needs:

"He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." (Isa. 40:11)

If you can't see the way before you:

"I will lead the blind in a way that they know not, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground." (Isa. 42:16)

If you are thirsty or in need of refreshment of some kind:

"He who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them." (Isa. 49:10)

If no way looks possible at all:

"And I will make my mountains a way, and my highways shall be raised up." (Isa. 49:11)

If you are confused or distressed:

"I will lead him and requite him with comfort." (Isa. 57:18)

If you falter or are fearing failure:

"Thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling...?" (Ps. 56:13)

If you are lonely or tired:

"My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." (Ex. 33:14)

photo credits: Sam and Hannah vdH